But Tonight We Dance
by Ethical Whore
Summary: The place where they started on the day they began, he wants to dance in the one place they haven't. DxC Implied DxG.


Inspired by a drawing on Deviantart by keytaro.

http: / / www. keytaro . deviantart . com/#/d30fx54 **(please remove the spaces)**

I've also been testing out new writing techniques, so, give me your honest opinion.

D x C for the win by the way.

* * *

The skeletons of leaves crinkle beneath her shoes as she walks up the path, she's dressed beautifully, a short orange dress, fishnet stockings, fishnet sleeves and goosebumps hiding beneath them. Stars drawn on her cheeks and across her nose like her freckles. But the stars were no longer in her eyes, despite the reflection from the heavens overhead. She's dressed beautifully, but it doesn't change her expression; not Princess, not Babe, but Courtney. Just Courtney. Sick, tired, and finished.

Duncan stands up straighter and steps out from under the pine tree with a cigarette between his fingers; unlike her he doesn't find any joy out of dressing up on the day he's been dreading the entire week.

"You look beautiful," Duncan says if only to break the silence and runs a hand through his limp Mohawk as he took a step forward. The crunch of the gravel beneath his feet is swallowed by the silence of her eyes that stare at him expressionlessly.

"That's not why you called me out here tonight Duncan." She replies brusquely and takes a step away from him carefully, and like an angel the moonlight illuminates her face and reveals streaks through the black stars on her cheeks, "so tell me what you want."

The worst part is knowing that the ending is written; that it can't continue. Everything has to come to an end, this has been instilled in Duncan's mind ever since he was a child and watched his father walk out, and his mother cry. True love is bullshit, and even when they were in their moment, running with the wind and challenging God somewhere deep down inside Duncan knew it wasn't infinite. The ending is now, laid out before him and just waiting for the words to be said.

"I wanted to see you," he says instead, and it's not a lie. Duncan hasn't lied to her since the start of their relationship, four years prior - it's just not the truth. Small nothings kept hidden in the undergrowth where they never searched.

Courtney doesn't smile like she may have months ago, she scoffs and places her hands on her hips without a trace of authority.

"You wanted to tell me about her. You wanted to tell me that things just aren't the same and they never will be again. I'll always be someone special you hold in your heart but no longer can we continue to ruin each other like this. You're going to tell me that even though you're dumping me, I'm still amazing."

Duncan's mouth goes dry, he wishes that the cigarettes would take the stale taste away from his mouth but it doesn't and he tosses it aside. Everything Courtney so roughly said was everything which he had planned in his mind the entire week, then again how could she not see the signs? Courtney knew every scar on his body and how he got them, every secret that needed to be read between lines.

Then again, he's pretty sure he's on the same level as her - Princess, Courtney is the topic which he can ace in his sleep. Hungrily he memorized every detail on her face, took in every single word she spoke and treasured it like a jewel. Not too long ago there were stars in Courtney's eyes and magic in all her words. Now more than anything he wants to crawl under the stream and the rocks and live in a delusional world where they are still happy.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you to dance," Duncan replies and takes three steps towards her, bathed in the moonlight and just as vulnerable. He extends a ghostly white hand in her direction, every finger but one adorned with rings.

"To dance?" Courtney repeats as she stares at the ground an shakes her head, dark locks blocking her expression.

"Yes," he says as gently as possibly. Their fingers lace as Courtney's trembling hand places itself on top of his, too small, too big, awkward. Their pieces no longer fit together, but they try anyways.

With a laugh she raises her head and stares up at the sky with glassy eyes and smiles with her eyes for the first time in weeks since Duncan's seen her. They're in the middle of nowhere where they spent their firsts, seconds, and thirds, where they buried skeletons in the undergrowth and uncovered secrets beneath the rocks in the stream. The place where they started on the day they began, he wants to dance in the one place they haven't.

"Here?" she asks, her voice is watery.

"We've dance in schools, on rooftops, in Future Shop where we drove the people crazy. We've danced in the streets, in clubs, naked, clothed, everything. But we've never danced here, where it really counts," he says gently and places one hand on her hip and draws her nearer. Their warmth meshes together, and for once Duncan isn't cold.

"We better not disappoint then."

With only the moon as their spotlight, Duncan drew Courtney away from the sidelines like Beauty and the Beast and into the clearing where the ballroom waited. Where the trees had eyes, the wind whistled, and only the animals knew of their existence. Swelling, crashing, rising, and falling the music in their heads played loudly, softly, as they awkwardly tried to piece together a lifetime of friendship, four years of a relationship, and three months falling out. They spun, glided, tripped, and bruised, it was uncomfortable, it was painful, but silently they vowed to keep spinning forever, as if to spin a world where they could continue to _be_.

"I love you Courtney," Duncan whispers, his breath visible in the crisp air and ghost like strands brush against her cheek, "I've loved you since the first day I met you,"

_But it's not enough. We already wrote the ending._

"I love you too," she responds beautifully and slows their pace until they're holding each other, her forehead presses against his shoulder. It becomes wet with tears, "_but this is it."_ She speaks his thoughts so fluently that it sometimes scares him, forces the hairs on the back of his neck to stand. The cold is inside him again, in his blood, in his fingers, and in his heart, he freezes.

"I know." he says with the conviction of his heart.

"But," her voice rises just slightly. The warmth, the glow in her hand move up to his chest and melt the cold in his heart, then slowly, she rocks them back and forth. She is her own, she's never needed him like he's always needed her, his crutch to lean on, the rainbow after the downpour, Courtney was.

"It will be okay."

Words that he's been dying to hear all his life, and she speaks them.

This way, she'll be strong, Duncan thinks and with the pulse beating hard in his chest, his wrists, his fingertips, he takes her hand and spins her away from himself, towards himself, and continues the dance. The words have been spoken, there's no façade, all walls came crumbling own but still desperately, he hangs onto whatever he has left. Courtney, beautiful Courtney, he wishes he has another chance, but he doesn't. Eventually they'll have to stop spinning, leave their world and move into everyone else's. They'll separate, they won't speak, and successfully ruin the friendship they had spent their life building. The next time they would meet would be in a bar of sorts years and years later. Awkwardly they would pass smiles and dig through the undergrowth to hear the one last nothing uttered between them to confirm the fact that they had once existed.

But tonight, they'll dance.


End file.
